Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
6 18 2024

Audio Version

Christianity has become a hobby – The gospel that wakes the dead. 

What are your first thoughts in the morning? Are you thankful to be alive? No, I mean thankful – To God – to be alive for another day to bring him Glory and honor!
Lord, use me today, somehow, to speak of your glory and your mercies. Use me in some way today to bring another person closer to you. Lord, I put on the full armor of God this morning and asked that you guide me and direct me in all of my words and thoughts. Give me wisdom and protection as I put you first throughout my day. Because my purpose is, and I live to glorify your name.

So many Christians today believe that the prayer they prayed and that card they signed, however many years ago, is their ticket to Salvation. It’s Not!

Yes, they were genuine in their declaration and they really do want to be saved, but if you ask them honestly, whether Jesus is really the Lord of their life, they would probably tell you… NO!

Can I just segway on you for just a second? How in love with your spouse are you? How much of your attention goes to pleasing them every day?
That you’re very breath is to honor them and to cherish them? 

  • That may have been true at one time. Maybe in the early stages of your love for them. But honestly, don’t we get comfortable? Don’t we pretty much get set into our routine? It’s the same with God.
    I remember Revelation 2: 4-5, “You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” Meaning they had become more focused on doctrine, good works, and correct beliefs, but had lost the passionate love and devotion they initially had for God. 

The message is a call to all believers to examine their hearts and see if they have also drifted from that initial, fervent love for God. That is my call today.

It’s easy to lose that edge for our spouses and God. Easy to lose that focus and conviction and passion to truly love them beyond yourself.

And that’s the honor that each of us has been given to be a servant and a lover of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We’re able to walk into his very presence and cry, “Abba Father,” and He is so different from us in our years of raising our own children. He always has time for us.

I just finished teaching a Following Jesus class to help some younger believers anchor themselves in their relationship with Christ. My heart keeps returning to look at the reflection of my own life, those whom I cherish the most, and what the fruit of their lives looks like.

How comfortable would you be with helping your 16-year-old get their drivers license and give them the keys to your car without being taught the basics of the laws and  procedures necessary for them to make a safe journey?

With that example in mind, wouldn’t you agree that this is an urgent issue of believing a counterfeit gospel message and its path to salvation?

Take a look around you. Take a look at those you love the most, and, as best you can, examine the fruit that you see. Could they, too, have fallen into a lukewarmness, or might you even question whether they’re truly saved at all?  How many were deceived? Was I among them? The mistakes are eternal.

Paul Washer speaking to a conference of Pastors said:

“Men today are trusting in the fact that at least one time in their life, they pray a prayer, and someone told them they were saved because they were sincere enough. And so, if you ask them, are you saved? They do not say, yes, I am, because I am looking into Jesus, and there is mighty evidence, giving me assurance of being born again. No! They say instead, one time in my life I prayed a prayer. Now they live like devils, but they prayed a prayer”. 

He goes on,

“I want you to know my friend, Salvation is by faith alone. It is a work of God. It is a grace, upon grace, upon grace. But the evidence of conversion is not just your examination of your sincerity at the moment of your conversion. It is the ongoing fruit in your life”.

And as I looked back upon my own life, I too, was struck by how fatally shallow my own early version of Christianity appeared.

It’s a scary thing when I think about the judgment day and Jesus possibly saying, “I never knew you: depart from me workers of lawlessness”. Matthew 7:23.

Greg Morris said, “Christianity for too many has become a hobby. Is my Christianity preparing me to die? Am I truly born again? Am I ready to stand before my creator with the fruit of my life”?

Is Christ really my life? Will death really be gain?

Washer warned in his sermon,

“My dear friend, everybody wants to go to heaven. They just don’t want God to be there when they get there. The question is not, do you want to go to heaven? The question is this: Do you want God? Have you stopped being a hater of God? Has Christ become precious to you? Do you desire him every day when you wake up? He said that books on Christ rarely sell well”.  Wow, was this my kind of Christianity? We are quick to read books on manhood, fatherhood, marriage, or how to be successful, but never one simply about Christ.

I know this is not a popular reading early in the morning, but I’m not sorry. I, too, am asking myself, in a life of hurried prayers, a couple of hours on Sundays, a pinch of morning devotions, sealed with some sincerity and soothed by Christian radio, will they really get me through my days of suffering?  Or, most importantly, the final judgment?

The old book “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” written by John Bunyan, is a Christian allegory that follows the journey of Christian, a man from the “City of Destruction,” as he seeks salvation and travels towards the “Celestial City” (Heaven). The book, published in two parts (1678 and 1684), uses symbolic characters and locations to represent the spiritual journey of a believer, highlighting the challenges and temptations faced along the way. 

It says, “then I saw that there was a path to hell, even from the gate of heaven, as well as from the city of destruction  (272). Bunyon shows us a life filled with religious activity, prayers, sermons, and Bible studies that can lead to hell just as surely as a life without it. A life with the appearance of godliness, but without its power. The man “Ignorance”, came all the way to the gate, only to be cast into hell. Bunyon shows us that not all who profess Christ have Christ.

What can we learn from John Bunyan?

To see what God did in a character in the book: Christian’s life through his intense and painful experiences is a reminder that suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to you. The worst thing that can happen to you is to be without faith in Christ. So, Bunyan would also remind us that suffering is not outside of God’s will for his children.

  • In Matt 25: 1-13  The wise virgins brought extra oil for their lamps, symbolizing those who are spiritually prepared and have the Holy Spirit. 
  • The Foolish Virgins:  They only brought lamps and no extra oil, representing those who are not truly prepared for Christ’s return. 

Today, so many churchgoers are skipping key conditions the Bible lays out, muting warnings, and reducing Salvation to etiquette and learning the lingo. Suddenly, everyone’s on a spiritual journey, no matter the evidence to the contrary, and the church embraces easy believism. 

How easy is the idea that one can be saved without true repentance, real love for God, or a changed life?  So, is the distance between heaven and hell merely the breath of a single choice made decades ago, and a prayer and a signed card?

  • This will require more than a closer evaluation of our lives. Repentance involves acknowledging how you have drifted from that first love and avoiding those actions. 
  • It’s not just about feeling sorry, but about actively changing your actions and behaviors. 
  • It will require intentionality in building a personal relationship with Jesus, not just religious duties.
  • Remember the joy of your salvation and how God has shown you love. 

My brothers and sisters, examine your hearts and examine your fruit.
Take a hard look around you at those that you love and those that you walk with.
Don’t be satisfied with the cheap salvation, a shallow gospel, or a false assurance of a long-ago prayer. Don’t let them fall into the trap and lose them in the end. 
Be Bold.  Be a disciple. 
Have the hard conversation from a genuine and repentant heart. Don’t let them be lulled away from playing in the sandbox, expecting not to get dirty, disillusioned,
compromised, or even lost by their routine of life and heaven.  How easy was it for the five foolish virgins not to be prepared? Let a symphony rise from within us every morning:
Oh Lord, how great are your ways. I give you prominence over every part of my life.
I lay at your feet and ask you to change me and make me into a closer image of Jesus.
Lord help me love you today like my very life depends on it…
in Jesus name. 

Lord I am believing that June is the month of my restoration  In  _______________ and _____________ (please name them.) June will be a month of taking back what Satan has stolen, it will be a month of restoration of what the canker worm has eaten and taken away.  Financially, relationally,  we declare June is our month  of restoration of the glory of the lord in our lives, which was scattered.  

What we lost will come back in his blessings, and his beauty, and what he has said concerning us.  We pull down every stronghold that has stunted the path of God’s blessings.  Lord, forgive me for being so lukewarm in my battles with the enemy.  Forgive me for not taking Sunday’s high ground before now.  But Lord, today is the day we have drawn a line in the spirit.  No More Satan!  Take your hands off of my life,  In ___________ and __________  I take back the authority you have stolen from me, and I proclaim the victory of Sunday.  Of your promises to bless me, my family, and my health and finances.  When you are with me, Lord, NO ONE can stand against me. 

So, Lord, receive the prayers and prophetic words of your scripture that June is our month of taking back the high ground in these areas.  June will be our Sunday of believing your blessings are for us, and your protection is upon us to restore what was stolen.  In Jesus’ Name.

If you would like to pass this lesson and future devotions to someone, send them this Signup link:http://eepurl.com/i_nlb2  My website to view past devotions is https://fearlesslycourageous.com.

Still Rolling Stones Lauren Daigle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQZNcZcfo8E

We’d love to hear how the Fearlessly Courageous ministry has touched your life or the life of someone close to you. Please take a moment to share your story with us at Dennis@Fearlesslycourageous.com —whether it’s a moment of clarity, comfort, or unexpected blessing you’ve experienced through this ministry.  Blessings are not just about the biggest breakthroughs.  Let’s not ignore or not praise God for the smaller blessings we should be praising God for every day.  Your testimony could inspire others and help us understand the impact we’re making in our Fearlessly Courageous community.

Prayer Requests

I understand that many of you face personal challenges as we navigate these prophetic times together.
I want you to know that we genuinely care about what you’re experiencing. If you have a prayer need, please send it to Dennis@Fearlesslycourageous.com. Either I or someone from our prayer team will personally lift your request before the Lord.
Remember, you’re not walking through these difficult days alone. We’re standing with you in faith, believing that God hears and answers prayer.